Pathological evaluation of peritumoral pseudocapsule status after nephron sparing surgery and its prognostic implication

The presence of a capsule/pseudocapsule (PS) with signs of infiltration within its layers or completely penetrated could represent the first pathological evidence of the capacity achieved by tumor cells to infiltrate and invade surrounding tissue and it could eventually have a role as prognostic factor in patients with intracapsular renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Historical reports on the PS surrounding RCC date back to the mid twentieth century with the aim to define the possible role of conservative surgery for small renal tumors. Few authors have recently investigated the morphological appearance of tumor fibrous PS and the prognostic implication of its infiltration after kidney surgery for RCC. The aim of the present review is therefore to report the historical data and the current results of a literature review on the PS status after kidney surgery and to define its prognostic implication.